M11 - Wild Duck Cluster

Location: Warrumbungle Observatory, Australia (149 11 E, 31 16 S)

Date: 3 to 5 August 2013

Camera: QHY-9 and QHY filters

Telescope: William Optics M120

Frames: Twelve 10 minute luminance frames and twelve 300 second exposures for each of RGB.

Processing: Stacked in CCDStack, balanced, curves, highlights, sharpened and increased colour in Photoshop SC5.

Note: The Wild Duck Cluster (also known as Messier 11, or NGC 6705) is an open cluster in the constellation Scutum. It was discovered by Gottfried Kirch in 1681. Charles Messier included it in his catalogue in 1764.

The Wild Duck Cluster is one of the richest and most compact of the known open clusters, containing about 2900 stars. Its age has been estimated to about 220 million years. Its name derives from the brighter stars forming a triangle which could represent a flying flock of ducks.